Out Of The Ordinary

Folklore and the Supernatural

Barbara Walker

Publication Year: 1995

This contributed volume explores the functions of belief and supernatural experience within an array of cultures, as well as the stance of academe toward the study of belief and the supernatural. The essays in this volume call into question the idea that supernatural experience is extraordinary.

Among the contributors are Shelley Adler, David Hufford, Barre Toelken, and Gillian Bennett.

Contents

Preface

THIS BOOK IS AN OUTGROWTH OF UTAH STATE UNNERSITY'S 1991 FIFE Conference
on folklore and the supernatural, with some of the articles stemming
from lectures presented during the conference by guest faculty members—specifically,
David Hufford, Barre Toelken, Timothy Lloyd, and James McClenon. ...

Introduction

THE ESSAYS IN THIS VOLUME CALL INTO QUESTION THE IDEA THAT THE supernatural
is something strange or even extraordinary, and reading them as a
whole brings attention to the fact that aspects of the supernatural are comfortably
incorporated into everyday life in a variety of cultures (even in those
"advanced" communities ...

I. Perception, Belief, and Living

From the moment we are born, our world is patterned by our culture,
and this includes not only what we eat or wear or say or do, but also to
some extent our ability to perceive, what we know or believe, and how
we think. These things are basic and instilled so early that it is as
though the world ...

1. Beings Without Bodies: An Experience-Centered Theory of the Belief in Spirits

THIS ESSAY CONCERNS A PARTICULAR SET OF "FOLK BELIEFS," THAT IS, unofficial
beliefs. The meanings and implications of this definition are discussed at
some length below. Most academic theories have assumed that folk belief—especially
beliefs about spirits—is false or at least unfounded, "non-rational"
and "non-empirical." ...

2. The Moccasin Telegraph and Other Improbabilities: A Personal Essay

IN 1956, I TOOK MY PARENTS ON A SUDDEN UNPLANNED TRIP TO MEET THE
Navajos I had been living with for the previous two years. I had borrowed a
friend's car, and we had driven all night long from Salt Lake City to Blanding,
a tiny town in Utah's southeast corner. We arrived just after dawn in the
Navajo settlement ...

3. Folklore, Foodways, and the Supernatural

I CONCEIVE OF FOLKLORE AS THE INTERSECTION OF ARTFULNESS AND EVERYDAY
life. I say artfulness, rather than art, for a reason: folklore does not depend on
the creation of works of art comparable to those of "high" art. Very often this
artfulness is exercised in the making of everyday things. These things don't
have to be objects, ...

II. Supernatural Power and Other Worlds: Making Contact

Throughout the world, it is not unusual to find cultures where people
believe in an afterlife or in spiritual healing or in premonition. But often,
when individuals are attempting to contact someone who has died, or
they are seeking supernatural healing or trying to divine the future, people
will contact an intermediary ...

4. Ghosts, Spirits, and Scholars: The Origins of Modern Spiritualism

STARTING IN 1850, THROUGH MOST OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, THOUSANDS
of Americans of every class were enraptured, entertained, and mesmerized by
drawing-room seances in which the spirits of the dead were reputedly conjured
up to answer, primarily through audible raps, any question put to
them. ...

5. Aftermath of a Failed Seance: The Functions of Skepticism in a Traditional Society

I REMEMBER HEARING A STORY ONCE ABOUT AN ATHEIST RIDING ON A BUS WHO
said, "God, if you really exist, make a rainbow appear in the sky right now."
Suddenly, a rainbow appeared. The atheist remarked, "What a coincidence! A
rainbow!" ...

7. "If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd Have Baked a Cake": The Folklore of Foreknowledge in a Neighborhood Group

The focus of this essay is this "common consent and agreement" about
knowledge of the future, as it is understood by a group of elderly women in my
own hometown, and the ways in which I believe that the women's social situation
and moral code shape the folklore that they share. I want to begin rather
obliquely, however: ...

III. Demons and Gods: Cultural Adaptations and Incorporations

Within a society, elements of the supernatural might be included
within a broad spectrum of belief, but how that assimilation takes place
or in what form varies from culture to culture. This final section provides
three rather diverse accounts of how the supernatural functions among
groups in the United States. ...

SCROOGE'S INTERPRETNE DILEMMA IS A COMMON ONE IN THE NARRATNE
arts—a dilemma faced by fictional characters which extends to include a real-life
audience of readers and listeners. Whether the tone of the work is gently
facetious, profoundly serious, or calculatingly sensational, the author portrays a
character caught ...

9. The Tourist Folklore of Pele: Encounters with the Other

Every year hundreds of packages and letters are sent to tourist bureaus, travel
agencies, hotels, and national parks in the Hawaiian Islands from people who
have visited the islands as tourists. The packages, sent most frequently from the
U.S. mainland, 1 contain volcanic rock, sand, or articles made from volcanic
material. ..

10. Terror in Transition: Hmong Folk Belief in America

WITH THE FALL OF THE CAPITAL CITY OF VIENTIANE IN 1975, THOUSANDS OF
Hmong fled their native Laos and, often after extended delays in Thai refugee
camps, began arriving in North America. In the West, the Hmong are more
widely known than other Laotian ethnic groups because of their efforts during
the war in Vietnam, ...

Selected Bibliography

Editor

BARBARA WALKER is assistant director of the Folklore Program at Utah State
University where she teaches and is director of the Fife Folklore Archives;
each year she coordinates the annual Fife Folklore Conference on a variety
of topics ranging ...

Welcome to Project MUSE

Use the simple Search box at the top of the page or the Advanced Search linked from the top of the page to find book and journal content. Refine results with the filtering options on the left side of the Advanced Search page or on your search results page. Click the Browse box to see a selection of books and journals by: Research Area, Titles A-Z, Publisher, Books only, or Journals only.